Almost Everybody Wants to Rule the Universe
by A. X. Zanier
Summary: What went through the Doctor's head when offered godhood?


Title: (Almost) Everybody Wants to Rule the (World) Universe Author: A. X. Zanier (londubh on LJ)Fandom: Doctor Who  
Pairing: N/A  
Rating: FRK+  
Disclaimer: a) The characters and basic story ideas of Doctor Who are the property of others including, but not limited to Russell T. Davies and the BBC. Any additional characters or story ideas are mine. I make no money from this intellectual exercise. b) This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any opinions or views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the author and are used for story-telling purposes only.  
Summary: What went through the Doctor's head when offered godhood?  
Song: _Everybody Loves Me, Baby_ by Don McLean  
Author's Notes: originally produced for a Lyric Wheel Challenge

**(Almost) Everybody Wants to Rule the (World) Universe**

_The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm... The God-maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space a__nd matter, yours to control._

"I could save everyone..."

"Yes."

"I could stop the war..."

Change the outcome. Undo the irrevocable damage he had wrought to the universe. Rebuild everything. Prevent the Daleks from ever becoming. The Cybermen unknown, and not just in this universe, but _all_ of them. The manipulation of the Master never to be felt. Gallifrey whole and unharmed; the Time Lords returned to their glory.

Even as the first vague thoughts formed, he _saw_ the whole of it. That possible futures pouring forth in every glorious detail in his mind. He could see all that could be in perfect detail. To know, not just what would be, but what could be. To see every path, every outcome. Every wrong choice as well as every right one.

The whole of time and space in his mind.

His curse and his salvation.

He could do so much with the power. A change here, an adjustment there and the multiverse would _glow_, sparkle with the joy and beauty that he would bestow unto it.

Should he wish it, there would be no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no death. There would be only light and life and joy evermore.

Sarah Jane's pained voice intruded on his vision of utopia. "No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss -- they define us as much as happiness or love."

The future he saw cracked, splintered, the light turning to gray. Endless life becoming simply endless. Joy and tranquility beset by entropy and stagnation. Perfection crumbling to dust as nothing ever changed.

"Whether it's a world or a relationship," she continued, every word unraveling that future just a bit more, "everything has its time and everything ends."

Ah, his brilliant Sarah Jane, his voice of reason in this sudden attack of madness.

Only humanity could see into the heart of the matter so clearly even though the lacked true understanding of the real meaning. Humans were so wise and so yet so naïve at the same time. They had such potential, potential he would never see fulfilled should he take this Faustian deal.

No, he had chosen another route. A longer, more heart wearying one, but the best of the options nonetheless. He would help them where he could, ease them over the rougher patches, and show the few who joined him the wonders of the universe. But change them... That he dare not do or risk everything he sought to achieve. It had been for them most of all that he'd risked all... lost all in the Time Wars. Saving them from the Dalek's genocidal hatred even at the cost of his own people.

Humanity persevered against all odds, against the darkness and brought a shining light to the universe. He chose to be near them just to bathe in that light. No matter how dark it seemed to be, that light shone through.

They gave him _hope_.

The few tattered remnants of that possible future fell away like ashes upon a breeze.

To take the offer, to become a God and recreate the universe in his image would be to destroy all that humanity was and would become.

He would never allow that to happen. Was that not why he'd taken upon the mantle of Earth's Champion not so very long ago?

With a soft snarl, he grabbed the nearest chair and hurled it into the screen displaying the Skasis Paradigm, destroying it.

That was answer enough.


End file.
